Interpreting ‘Systems Architecting’ M. R. Emes1,*, P. A. Bryant2, M. K. Wilkinson3, P. King4, A. M. James1 and S. Arnold5 *Author to whom correspondence should be addressed 1 UCL Centre for Systems Engineering, Mullard Space Science Laboratory, Holmbury St. Mary, Dorking, RH5 6NT, UK, Tel: 01483 204100,
[email protected] 2 Logica, The Office Park, Springfield Drive, Leatherhead, Surrey KT22 7LP, UK 3 Niteworks, PO Box 87, Farnborough Aerospace Centre, Farnborough, Hampshire, GU14 6YU, UK, 4 Detica, Gloucester Business Park, Gloucester, GL3 4AB, UK 5 University of Hertfordshire, School of Engineering and Technology, Hatfield, Hertfordshire, AL10 9AB This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: [Emes, M. R., Bryant, P. A., Wilkinson, M. K., King, P., James, A. M. and Arnold, S. (2012), Interpreting “systems architecting”. Syst. Engin., 15: 369–395. doi: 10.1002/sys.21202], which has been pUblished in final form at [http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/sys.21202]. This article may be used for non-commercial pUrposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self- Archiving. Abstract The UK Chapter of the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE UK) has commissioned research to illustrate the variety of usage of the terms architecture and architecting in the systems engineering community. These terms, though widely used, are rarely strictly defined, and the meaning attributed to the terms is not consistent even in formal publications. Using soft systems methodology, this research has analysed three published sources (MODAF, The Art of Systems Architecting by Maier and Rechtin, and ISO/IEC 42010), and conducted a series of interviews with systems architecting practitioners.